Protector
by axtra nonymous xxx
Summary: With Hotchners team up to thier eyeballs in cases it is up to the RED CELL team to solve the mystery of the killings of two teenaged boys. The only problem being that these two killings could not be any more different to each other. As the body count starts to rise it becomes clear that one member of the RED CELL team could very well be targeted next.
1. Chapter 1

_Okay, this is my first Criminal Minds: Suspect behaviour fic. I've just started watching the show and it seems pretty amazing. I'd love it if you checked out Kaylin Tesla- her CM:SB Fics have really inspired me._

_Axtra _

**Chapter 1: Just a feeling **

Troy felt like he was being watched. It had started two days ago, on Saturday, and he was reaching the end of his tether. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching and following him, needless to say Troy was on edge.

"You okay?" asked a faint voice from behind. Troy whipped round, the fight or flight instinct kicking in, it took his brain an agonizing 3 seconds to realize that the voice belong to his girlfriend, Maria. Glancing up at her he saw confusion-and a hint of annoyance-in her eyes.

"Sorry." He stated sheepishly. Maria then put her hands on her hips, sighed, rolled her eyes and then turned around, heading back towards the movie theatre. Troy scrambled to keep up.

"What's gotten into you?" Maria finally broke the awkward silence that had descended upon them for several minutes. "You're on edge lately, is everything O.K.?" Troy smiled at her. He hated to see her concerned but it was nice to know his behaviour was being acknowledged. He hesitated before answering, if he told Maria he felt like someone was following him, she would panic. No, she would freak out. Troy didn't want her worrying and fussing over something as insignificant as a _feeling_. He put on his best, most convincing smile and turned to face her.

"It's nothing love. You just caught me off guard. Though I will say I am a tad nervous I guess. I get my Uni test score back soon." That wasn't an outright lie. Troy was nervous about his Uni results; it just wasn't the main reason for his discomfort. Maria looked up at him and smiled the smile that made Troy feel like everything was right in the world. She smacked his chest playfully.

"You've got nothing to worry about though! You aced that test, let's just enjoy tonight. I bet you that I can take your mind off Uni." She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows playfully. Both Troy and Maria burst out laughing.

"You get the tickets, I'll get the popcorn." Troy stated and he walked into the queue. At that exact moment a girl with bright red hair entered through the doors. Even though he had a girlfriend, and was determined to stay faithful, he couldn't deny that she was hot. Her emerald green eyes scanned the crowd until they finally landed on him.

"Troy! What a surprise!" As soon as she spoke Troy recognised her. Breaking away from the crowd her ran up to her.

"Sarah! What are you doing here?" He asked as he hugged her.

"Well, I did come up to see my favourite cousin, until I found out that he was on a date with his girlfriend at the movies." She explained with a smile.

Troy glanced round to see Maria still queuing for the tickets, she hadn't noticed them yet. Thank God for small favours. He turned back to his cousin and signed.

"Sarah, I am so glad you came up, really, but Maria's been looking forward to this movie since… forever and-" Troy started to ramble.

"Stop." Sarah commanded cutting him off.

"I know, I'm not going to steal your from your date, I just came to give you this." With that she began shuffling through her bag. Her face getting more and more annoyed the deeper she dug.

"Oh crap" she began "I've left it in the car, it's parked out front, c'mon it will only take a minute." As she finished her sentence she grabbed hold of his arm and began awkwardly pulling him towards the door.

"Okay! Okay!" Troy exclaimed "I'll come, Jesus Christ!" with that he pulled his arm free of Sarah's grip and marched purposefully towards the door.

Troy didn't come back after a minute. Or five. Or ten. After 15 minutes Maria had the tickets, drinks _and _popcorn and she was starting to get impatient. After 20 minutes Maria gave in, she went into the movie, _alone_, but not before she sent Troy one last text that read.

_"Where r u?"_

The next morning all the newspapers and newsreaders proclaimed the same thing

"**_Troy Smith, local boy, found dead in ditch 5 miles from movie theatre_**."

Troy should have never walked out of the movie theatres door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

Gina LaSalle hated Monday's. Monday's always signified the start of something, the start of the week and, in this instance, the start of a new case. Gina was late. Her alarm hadn't gone off at the right time, she couldn't find her car keys, her car wouldn't start, her taxi driver was late and finally to top it all off she got stuck in traffic. Cooper was going to kill her. All in all today was starting out as a shite day.

She finally arrived at the office, half an hour late, and almost through a fit when the door to the conference room seemed to be jammed. She watched impatiently as Mick _slowly_ got up- he was probably doing that to piss her off even more- and then proceeded to open the door and step aside as she barged in, threw her satchel and coat on the floor and finally threw herself back into her chair with a huff. As she looked back she caught Mick and Prophet sharing a grin.

"What's gotten into you today, love?" Mick asked.

If Cooper hadn't held up his hand to show that they were about to start work, Gina would've strangled Mick with the piece of string that just so happened to be in her pocket.

"Troy Smith aged 16 from New York." Cooper began as his team finally settled down. A picture of a smiling brunette boy with green eyes and a tall muscular frame showed up on the screen.

"Last seen in a movie theatre, buying popcorn for his girlfriend before they went to see a film. He was found, five miles from said movie theatre in a ditch." Cooper stated. Beth raised her hand slightly and after a nod from Cooper she asked

"Cause of death? I mean that's why they called us right? This isn't some episode of _Coronation Street_, just cut to the chase Coop."

Cooper smiled "Patience is a virtue Beth." He stated and then carried on

"Multiple stab wounds around the chest area, as well as some minor cuts around the arms and upper legs."

"I have a feeling this isn't the only victim, am I right, Coop?" Prophet sighed wearily.

"I'm afraid so, Prophet." Cooper answered. He then changed the image of Troy Smith with a blond, blue eyed boy with a small thin frame.

"Derek Brown, also 16 from L.A. Last seen at a park near his house. His body was found six miles away. He was strangled." Cooper finished his briefing and glanced up at his team. They all seemed in some stage of confusion.

"That's not much to go on Cooper." Beth broke the silence

"I mean how do we know these two cases are even connected? The only thing these boys have in common is age."

"I know. Hotchner's team has been wracking their brains for weeks. They've had cases backed up for miles. These two cases, there connected in some way, we just don't know what that way is yet. I told the director that we just finishing up some paperwork, so he gave the case to us." Cooper explained.

"I suppose we should start by runnin' a background check. Y'know see if they were involved with each other in any whey." Mick suggested

"Yeah, Coop can you call Garcia, this process will be a whole lot faster with her involved." Prophet added.

"Gotcha." Cooper stated as he began establishing a link to Penelope's headquarters.

"Hello my lovelies! So, what can I do for you today?" Penelope's chipper voice stated from the intercom. She had obviously already had the 3 cups of caffeine she needed to function early in the morning.

"Hey Penelope, listen I need you to run some background checks on Troy Smith and Derek Brown. Get me anything you can find. These two boys have got to be connected in some way." Cooper asked.

"Why darling, it shall be my pleasure. Now as you said you wanted me to get you _everything_, I'm just going to have to ask you to give me a while, okay Hun?" Penelope asked.

"Thanks Garcia, it really means a lot to us." Cooper concluded.

"Oh, well daring I have to help. I mean where would you and Hotch be without me? See you my lovelies!" Penelope then ended the video link.

It was at that moment that Cooper's cell phone rang.

Cooper flicked the phone open and began listening to the person on the other line. His team had no idea who- or what- he was speaking about, as he only seemed to answer things by saying "_yes_" and "_of course_". The call didn't last very long. Within 2 minutes Cooper was biding the person on the line goodbye. He flipped his phone shut and looked up at his team.

"That was a call from the Indianapolis police. A 16 year old boy's body was found in a river half an hour ago."


	3. Chapter 3

** Chapter 3**

Prophet was starting to regret letting Mick drive. The Welshman's driving had improved dramatically since he'd first started (though at the time Prophet was certain it couldn't get any worse) but he was still veering towards the left side of the road unconsciously. There were several instances where Prophet had to remind Mick to _stay on the bloody right!_ And there was one heart-stopping moment when a large truck was heading straight towards them and if Prophet hadn't grabbed the wheel and throw the car to the right, well… both Prophet and Mick probably wouldn't be working on the case anymore. In his defence he only complained once, and swore to never do it again. He'd said something along the lines of "_You're driving is giving me a heart attack!_" to which Mick replied "_Are you sure it's my driving? I mean it could just be your age old man_." If Prophet hadn't been terrified of Mick driving the car into oncoming traffic he would've hit him.

Both Prophet and Mick arrived, _unscathed_ by some miracle, in Indianapolis only a few minutes behind Coop, Gina and Beth. As the group began checking out the environment a small woman with a short blond bob began walking towards them. She was wearing a black business suit with the top button of her white shirt undone, her black heels clicked as she approached.

"Hello, which one of you is Agent Cooper?" The woman asked.

Cooper stepped forward, extending his hand towards the woman. A smile broke out on her face and she shook his hand respectively.

"Walk with me… if you don't mind." She added the latter part of her sentence after some hesitation.

"Of course. Lead the way." Cooper instructed stepping aside to allow the woman to take charge.

The woman led them into the building and began ascending a large staircase.

"Thank you for coming so quickly. I'm Head of Investigations Anna Browning. Anything you need just ask me." She stated proudly.

"This is my team, Agent's Griffith, Sims, LaSalle and Rawson." Cooper stated. The woman nodded in recognition.

"Here we are." She stopped in front of a small room containing a whiteboard, a large table in the centre taking up most of the room and a few plastic chairs.

"I'm afraid this was all we could do." Anna started, then the intercom paged her.

"Sorry, I'll be back as soon as I can." She said.

"Don't worry about it." Cooper said with a smile.

Anna began walking down the corridor before stopping half way and speed walking back towards Cooper and his team.

"Sorry, here's the address for the crime scene." She explained and then she was off, disappearing down the corridors, her heels tapping as she went.

The team sat their bags down and Cooper began giving out orders

"Prophet, Mick, Beth I need you to go check the crime scene out, okay?" He handed Beth the directions and Beth nodded, she then stood and gestured for the boys to do the same.

"Call when you have everything, yeah?" Cooper asked.

"Sure Coop." Mick replied.

"Gina I need you to go over media strategies, okay?" Cooper continued.

"You got it." Gina stated.

"Everyone back here in 90." Cooper reminded them, the group them dispersed.

Mick was not driving. Prophet had been through hell on the way to Indianapolis and he refused to do it again. Ever. It only took Prophet 20 minutes to drive to the crime scene, but he could have done it in 10. The reason it took so long was because Beth just _wouldn't _stop complaining about his driving. It was too fast, too slow, he was stopping too early, he was stopping too late. They finally parked and got out, with Prophet promising Mick he could drive back. Beth had no idea what she was in for.

The group approached the officer's standing guard at the familiar yellow tape and they were quickly allowed entry. The scene was a small-ish forest that was popular with hunters because of the wild deer. The body had been dumped near a small creek running through half the forest. A bunch of detectives surrounded the body, which was covered up, but most of them dispersed when the team arrived.

"Hi I'm Olivia Gale, leading this investigation. I'm guessing your Cooper's team right?" This was said by a woman with a short messy red bob; she was of medium height and seemed quite confidant for someone who looked so young.

"Yes. I'm agent Griffith, and these are agents Sims and Rawson. What have you gathered so far?" Beth cut to the chase. The woman, Olivia, look slightly taken aback by Beth's sudden dominance. She quickly recovered though.

"We think this is David Simmons, local boy. We've called his mother to come and confirm. We don't know the official cause of death yet, but it seems pretty clear." With that she lifted the sheet off the boy's upper half. He was tall and muscular, his hair was black and straight, the reason his hair was plastered against his forehead was clear. His face, upper body, and most likely his lower body, was dripping with water.

"He was drowned." Prophet stated.

"It looks that way." Olivia replied.

"It can't have been easy, I mean look at the size of him. The unsub must have been pretty strong to hold him under the water." Beth mused.

"Not necessarily." Mick countered.

"What?" Beth looked at him, her eyes and body posture clearly showing she was confused.

"Look at that." Mick said, pointing to the boy's shoulder. Before Beth could protest that there wasn't anything there, he lifted the shoulder up and turned it towards himself revealing a long ugly looking red gash, surrounded by dried blood.

"That makes sense." Prophet said, nodding. "If he was able to disable him, either by wounding or knocking him out, it would've been much easier to drown him."

Olivia stared at Prophet, slightly shocked. Then she smiled

"Well, you're more than a pretty face." She whispered, she then got up from her crouched position and walked off. Prophet's mouth hung open and his eyes followed her away.

"Well done, dude." Mick commented and lightly punched Prophet's shoulder. That snapped Prophet out of his revive to immediately start arguing that he had done _nothing_, and _no_, he was not staring at Olivia because she was_ hot_, he was just… confused about her earlier comment.

Beth sighed and rolled her eyes, before following Olivia's lead and standing up.

"C'mon you two Neanderthals, we need to get back to base." She said sternly as if she were scolding a pair of two year olds.

"Yes Ma'am." Mick stated before snatching the keys out of Prophet's hand.

"I'm driving." He said with a smirk. That settled they climbed into the car, Mick driving, Beth riding shotgun and Prophet in the back. Mick started the car, and began to drive.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi! Well here's chapter 4! I would like to thank narwhayley, Doc. blu xxx, stilljustme, Kaylin Tesla and all who have read and/or reviewed, it keeps me going! Also I'm putting a poll up concerning this story, do you think that Prophet and Olivia Gale should end up together? Please tell me! Also, there are tiny spoliers for One Shot Kill in this chapter, you have been warned. Now, onto the story..._

**Chapter 4**

Beth Griffith was hardly ever silent. If she was, it usually meant that a case was going horribly wrong, or she was terrified. Prophet settled on the latter for this occasion. He, himself was terrified, but it was just so damn hilarious to watch Beth's face switch between pure anger and pure terror. That and he just couldn't stop thinking about Olivia Gale. She had called him pretty-though Prophet wasn't sure if he should take that as an insult or compliment- and smart. Prophet had no issues with self-esteem but it was _nice_ to be recognised as such. That and, he couldn't deny it, Olivia was, not _hot_, she seemed way too classy for that, but… quite beautiful, to be honest. Prophet snapped himself out of his revive, he didn't even know her that well, and she was a work partner for God's sake, he needed his to focus entirely on the case, not some _woman_. Bringing himself into the present he watched as Mick narrowly avoided an oncoming truck. He wasn't certain that Beth, Mick and himself would make it to base in one piece, _**if**_they made it to base.

Beth was now certain there was a God. They had made it back to base unscathed and she thanked whoever had had a hand in that. One of the other things she was certain of was the fact that she would _never_, ever again criticize Prophet's driving. Beth hoped that Penelope had found a link between the boys. She had called Cooper soon after they got in the car, and he had said that he would pass the information on to their computer guru. She and the boys exited the car and began walking towards the building; Beth caught Mick sharing a triumphant grin with Prophet. _Oh, if only she could wipe that smile off his face…_

The three entered their temporary office just as Cooper looked as if he were about to start.

"Ah, right on time. Penelope said that she's got something for us." Cooper commented. He then brought up a video link and Penelope flickered into focus.

"Hello my darlings!" she proclaimed. The team all gave her their greetings.

"So, what have you got for us?" Beth asked.

"Well my sweeties these three boys couldn't be any more different-" After seeing the groups faces drop she continued "-personality wise. That and they all grew up in different areas, different schools… the only real link I can find is that there parents are all separated." She finished.

"Could you give us a bit more detail?" Gina pressed.

"Of course! Now let me see… Ah! Here we go. Troy Smith's parents divorced when he was three, after his younger sister had been born. They split the rights, Troy's sister lives with her father in Michigan, and they all have, _had_, a good relationship, all in all a lucky family, well… what used to be a lucky family." Garcia added after a moment's thought "Derek Brown, his parents divorced only two years ago, he lived with his mum, all seemed to be going well until April last year." She continued.

"What happened then?" Cooper asked leaning forward

"His father was killed in a motorcycle accident." Garcia concluded. "Onto David Simmons, now his is an intresting case, his father supposedly died five years ago, only to be spotted with another woman three years later. Turns out he faked his death to be with another woman, needless to say, David's mother divorced him and took full rights over David and his twin sister Ellie. Neither of them have seen their father since." With that Penelope sat back. "That's all I could get so far, I'm afraid, want me to keep looking?" She offered.

"If you wouldn't mind." Cooper asked. Penelope stated that she would and then disconnected the link. Cooper stood up and began pacing.

"What now Coop?" Beth asked tenderly, when Cooper was frustrated he often lashed out with words.

"We go deeper. Penelope's doing all she can from her end, it's our turn to investigate. Prophet, Mick I want you to interview David's family and friends, Browning said her team will help out, her head agent, Gale? Yes Gale, Olivia Gale was very eager to lend a hand." Prophet's face began turning slightly pink.

"Is there something wrong with that, Prophet?" Cooper asked concerned.

"Nah" began Mick "as long as you don't mind some flirtin' Olivia seemed very interested in Prophet-" Mick would have gone on but Prophet had wacked his hand over Mick's mouth. "Shut. Up." Prophet replied venomously. "We'll be fine." With that Prophet stood, and forcing Mick to do the same he stormed out of the office, Mick in tow.

"What was that about?" asked Gina perplexed.

"Nothing." Beth stated "What about us Coop?" She asked.

"Gina I need you to conduct phone interviews with the other victim's friends and family. Beth, you're going to accompany me to the morgue, I had the other bodies flown over, Gina we will see you in a bit." Then, with Cooper leading, the two exited the room.

Gina sank down in her chair and sighed, how come she was always left behind?

"Need some help?" Gina almost leapt out of her seat in fright; she turned to see a tall, curly haired man of about her age offering a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, who are you?" She asked turning to face him as he handed her the cup and sat down next to her.

"William Green, but please, call me Will." He offered his hand and Gina shook it, smiling slightly, as Will did look kind of attractive.

"I work on Browning's beat team." He continued. "And I know who you are; hell everyone has heard everything about your team, Miss LaSalle." Gina began blushing "Is it true you went out under sniper fire to save a civilian?" Will now seemed like an excited 8-year old meeting his idol.

"It wasn't one of my finer moments of judgements" Gina started; before Will could butt in she continued "If it hadn't been for Mick I would be dead as a dodo." She joked. Will laughed slightly.

"Well now that we've been introduced why don't we start?" He asked, Gina nodded and they began to work.


End file.
